DAHOMEY (Senegal/France/Benin 2024) ***
Directed by Mati Diop

The Golden Bear winner at this year’s Berlinale, Mati Diop’s DAHOMEY traces the historic repatriation of 26 royal treasures from France to Benin, simultaneously forging a speculative and political reflection on cultural heritage, collective memory, and the implications of restitution.  Diop directed the recent ATLANTICS which received rave reviews when screened at Cannes and at TIFF.

Benin, a French-speaking West African nation, is the birthplace of the vodun (or “voodoo”) religion and home to the former Dahomey Kingdom from circa 1600–1900. In Abomey, Dahomey's former capital, the Historical Museum occupies two royal palaces with bas-reliefs recounting the kingdom’s past and a throne mounted on human skulls. To the north, Pendjari National Park offers safaris with elephants, hippos and lions.

For centuries, the Kingdom of Dahomey, within the borders of modern-day Benin, was a central cultural meeting point in West Africa, a site of European colonial conquest and the transatlantic slave trade. In 1892, the French invaded and looted hundreds of treasures from the royal palace, alongside thousands of other works. Following years of appeals and reports, in 2021 an agreement was made for several of these artworks to be returned from France to Benin.

The doc, at the beginning, takes the view of one of the artifacts that calls itself number 26.  It talks in voiceover (speaking in Don), of what it experiences while being stolen and then returned back to Benin.  The star speaks in poetic prose, giving the doc an artistic feel.

A few artifacts are shown and described in detail.  One of them is a statue of King Ghezo, one of the country’s rulers in the past.  It is slightly damaged but was made of painted wood and steel fibre and still looks magnificent.

A large portion of the doc involves debates among the Beninese - University students.  The debates open one’s eyes to the thoughts and demise of the people.  Firstly, they main issue of concern is the return of only 26 figures out of a total of 7000.  The important question is the reason for their return.  The debate of whether the move is politically cultural.  One person says that Francois Mitterrand just wants to improve his brand by allowing the run of the 26 figures.  Another argues that there are two kinds of heritage - material and nonmaterial.  The artifacts are the material ones that have been taken away from he people and the other like the dances, colour and music that stay in the country and conniver be taken away from the people.  The point is also brought out of when the rest of the 7000 will be returned, if ever.

Other issues rain, making the problem more complex.  Who will be responsible for looking after and preserving the artifacts?  An elderly claims that he is too old and it is up to the younger generation to take responsibility.   The returned figures now reside in the Palais and how can children in remote villages get a chance to view the history?

The doc also emphasizes the importance of history and the loss of the people’s native language due to colonization.  The debaters in the doc all speak French and are unable to communicate or speak in their native tongue.

DAHOMEY won this year’s Golden Bear at the Berlinale and was also screened at the last Toronto International Film Festival and opens at the TIFF Lightbox on October 18th.

Trailer: